A.R.T. Presents AS YOU LIKE IT At Loeb Drama Center

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) continues its 2011/12 Season with the A.R.T./MXAT Institute's production of William Shakespeare's comedy AS YOU LIKE IT, directed by David Hammond. Set design is by J. Michael Griggs, costume design by Mallory Frers, lighting design by Margo Caddell, and sound design by Clive Goodwin. The production features the A.R.T. Institute Class of 2012. Performances begin on January 18th and run through the 29th.

"All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players" in Shakespeare's beloved pastoral comedy As You Like It. This classic tale follows Rosalind and her friend Celia's escape from a deadly conspiracy into nature's wild, liberating arms. What transpires is an unconventional romance, with everything from wrestling matches to cross-dressing shepherds, culminating in a finale so joyful that spring will seem just around the corner.

Director David Hammond made the following notes to the production: "For Elizabethan audiences, keenly aware of newly booming towns and an increasingly impoverished countryside, of factionalism and corruption in government, of rapid economic change, shifts in power, and disparities in wealth, the theater - which in a very short time had become a major part of London life - was itself a green world offering rejuvenation. Shakespeare clearly knew this. He took care tomake his Arden the kind of green world his audience wanted, as they would have liked it to be. Remarkably, the play retains its restorative power today, as if audiences continued to need the same sort of renewal."

A.R.T./MXAT Institute faculty member David Hammond is a former resident director for The American Conservatory Theatre and the Yale Repertory Theatre and was Artistic Director of PlayMakers Repertory Company for fourteen seasons. He has coached Shakespeare texts for The Actors Theatre of Louisville, the American Shakespeare Festival, the Denver Center Theatre Company, the Atlantic Theatre Company, and the New York University Graduate Acting Program at Tisch School of the Arts. He has taught on the faculties of the Juilliard School, the Yale School of Drama, The American Conservatory Theatre Advanced Training Program, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also traveled extensively as a cultural specialist for the United States Information Service, directing and teaching in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. He is currently Professor of Theatre Studies and Arts Division Chair at Guilford College. Mostrecently Hammond directed Hamlet for the inaugural production of Empirical Rogue, an independent New York-based company comprised ofInstitute alumni. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Carnegie-Mellon University School of Drama.

The American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) is the winner of numerous awards, including the Tony Award, the Pulitzer Prize and Elliot Norton and I.R.N.E. Awards. In May of 2003 it was named one of the top three regional theaters in the country by Time magazine. The A.R.T. was founded by Robert Brustein in 1980, who served as Artistic Director until 2002, when he was succeeded by RoBert Woodruff. In 2008, Diane Paulus became the A.R.T.'s Artistic Director. During its 31-year history, the A.R.T. has welcomed many major American and international theater artists, presenting a diverserepertoire that includes premieres of American plays, bold reinterpretations of classical texts and provocative new music Theater Productions. The A.R.T. has performed throughout the U.S. and worldwide in 21 cities in 16 countries onfour continents.

Since becoming Artistic Director, Diane Paulus has programmed innovative work that has enhanced the A.R.T.'s core mission to expand the boundaries of theater. Productions such as Sleep No More, The Donkey Show, Gatz, The Blue Flower, Prometheus Bound and Death and the Powers: The Robots' Opera have immersed audiences in original theatrical experiences. The A.R.T.'s club theater, OBERON, which Paulus calls a "Second Stage for the 21st century," has become an incubator for local artists and has also attracted national attention for its groundbreaking model for programming. Through all of its work, the A.R.T. is committed to building a community of artists, technicians, educators, staff and audience, all of who are integral to the A.R.T.'s mission to expand the boundaries of theater.

The balance of the A.R.T.'s 2011-12 Season includes the world premiere of Wild Swans by Jung Chang, adapted by Alexandra Wood and directed by Sacha Wares (Loeb Drama Center • February 11 – March11); the world premiere of FUTURITY: A Musical by The Lisps, with music and lyrics by César Alvarez with The Lisps; book by Molly Rice and César Alvarez; directed by Sarah Benson (Oberon • March 16 – April 15); and WOODY SEZ, with words and music by Woody Guthrie, devised by David M. Lutken with Nick Corley (Loeb Drama Center • May 5 – May 26).

The Loeb Drama Center, located at 64 Brattle Street, Harvard Square, Cambridge, is accessible to persons with special needs and to those requiring wheelchair seating or first-floor restrooms. Deaf and hard-of-hearing patrons can also reach the theater by calling the toll-free N.E. Telephone Relay Center at 1-800-439-2370.

For further information call 617-547-8300 or visit americanrepertorytheater.org